


Of blades and thievery

by Rakshasha



Series: Of friendship and love [1]
Category: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-03
Updated: 2017-07-03
Packaged: 2018-11-22 20:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11387679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rakshasha/pseuds/Rakshasha
Summary: (Y/n) came to Londinium looking for a new life and had to become a thief to survive. When one day a simple job got ugly, the raising gang under the leadership of a lad named Arthur comes to her rescue.





	Of blades and thievery

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I’m, like, super nervous about this, for a lot of reasons, but I’m also pretty happy with how it turned out... I edited it a few times already and I have the feeling it could be even better, but, well, I can’t wait to post it, so... yeah, I may edit it later as well ;p And I just saw the movie again yesterday, and it’s soo good I would happily go see it a third time, honest! I love this incarnation of Arthur and the movie is by far my favourite one this year and favourite fantasy one since LOTR. Also I have this really, really strong urge to make this into a longer story, but I honestly don’t know if it’s a good idea and how I would exactly pull it off... But if there is someone willing to read this becoming a longer story, let me know! It may push me to write it ;p Okay, but I rambled enough already, I’ll stop here. For any mistakes I sincerely apologize, English’s not my native language and I can only hope a gave characters justice. And if you want to gush about the movie or Arthur or anything related to it, I’m all for it, message me, send an ask, I’ll be here for it!
> 
> So, without further ado, enjoy, lads!

When (y/n) came to Londinium, she knew it wouldn't be easy, but she was prepared for it. At least she hoped she was, because first few weeks made her question it more often than not and gave a lesson she wouldn’t quickly forget. But - in spite of everything - she survived; learned how to move and earn money, how to pickpocket not getting caught, where to hide and how to dress, so she would blend with the crowd. (Y/n) had to know all of this, because no one wanted to give her a proper job and becoming a prostitute was out of question - she didn't look down on those girl, of course not, but... she just couldn't. (Y/n) would rather peel of her skin if some stranger touched her in that way than let them do it again, and not even mentioning those drunks, who often went to brothels. Just thinking about it made her cringe in disgust.  

Though a thief and trained warrior - both in street fighting styles and with blades, which she was best with - (y/n) was a  hopeless romantic at heart. She couldn't help it, she still remembered tales her mother told at her bedside, about big adventures, romance and mystical creatures. It would be a dream come true, to live through at least some of it, but - well - life verified it as always. So she abandoned those silly dreams, wandering from place to place and finally coming to the city, with hope to start over and forget nightmares of her past.  

It took some time, but she quickly learned she wasn't the only one who chose to live in a very similar way. There were other small thieves like herself, of course, but it wasn't one of them who caught her attention. It was a boy about her age, not yet a man, but not quite a teenager either, his features just sharpening into face that would be truly handsome in the future. And he wasn't alone. (Y/n) saw the others who followed him discreetly - they made quite a group, very organized and efficient. In fact they worked so well, there were times she was jealous she was only by herself and sometimes had to run for her life without any support - not often, but it happened, due to bad luck or a slip of attention. What she didn't expect was that she would soon have a chance to join them.  

It was a bright, sunny day, when (y/n) spotted what seemed an ideal occasion to steal some nice amount of money. Crowd was really dense and there were many wealthy men on the market, so she choose one of them and pulling a hood over her face, made her way to him. (Y/n) wasn't very tall and her plain colored clothes mixed with others, so she was fairly sure she wouldn't caught any attention. Of course, if someone looked closely, he surely would notice her feminine figure beneath the cloak, but she made sure to duck her head low and hunch her back, so it was less visible.  

Quickly stepping behind her chosen target, she slipped her hand on his belt and snatched the small but nicely heavy pouch. It happened in split of second, but what she didn't expect was that he would reach for his money just when she pulled the pouch from his belt. Felling her heart stop, (y/n) hid it under her cloak and turned around, trying to walk away as quickly as possible through the crowd and blend with it, but... 

"Hey, you!" she heard the man yell. But she wouldn't stop, couldn't, she need to look like she minded her business. Unfortunately, some other voice ringed through the air. 

"It's him, in the cloak, I saw it!" 

"Stay there, thief! Catch him!" 

Heavy steps cut through the air behind her, so she threw away all caution and run for her life, again, pushing people from her path. They shouted angry "hey!" and "watch out!" at her, but (y/n) didn't pay any attention to them, running into a small passage, trying to escape the three guards that followed her and maybe hide in some unknown to them place. It worked in the past, so hoping with all her drumming like crazy heart she run. But - unfortunately - she started to recognize the building less and less, until she came to a dead end, pale wall making her stop short - far too tall for her to jump over or climb it - and her heart stopped. So she turned to the men that just caught up to her and reached to her belt. If she had to, she would fight. And seeing their faces, she hadn't much of a choice. But, unknown to her, she was also being followed by another group. The group of boys she knew only from looking. 

Arthur with his lads was on the same market, with much the same idea as her, and was currently planning the action in hushed tones with Wet Stick and Back Lack in the side alley, when he spotted her figure. It struck something in his memory, like he have seen that same cloak - not just once but constantly, only he didn't pay attention to it back then. So he hushed his friends, nodding in the direction of the mysterious figure that was coming close to the rich man.  

"This lad seem familiar to me," he said, voice low, so only his friends would hear him. "You, lads?" 

"Yeah..." agreed the Wet Stick. "I think I've seen this cloak and posture before..." 

"Yup, seems familiar," Back Lack nodded slowly. 

"And knows what he's doing, clever," Arthur murmured mostly to himself, watching the figure closely. He was impressed how he blended with the crowd and seemed to catch the pouch with ease, but what the thief didn't notice, they saw right away, and he was compromised. Arthur sighed slightly. "Too bad..." 

"He'll run," Wet Stick said with certainty, Back Lack nodding almost instantly. And just as the words slipped from his mouth, the unknown lad started running through crowd to the alley close to them. "More for us, ey, boss?" 

Arthur contemplated his decision only for a second.

"No," he said calmly, turning around, "We go after him, I want to see what he can do." And with that he climbed on the roof of the closest building. His friends exchanged slightly confused looks, but then shrugged in unison and followed right after.  

So few moments later they were on the roof of one of the buildings that closed off her run away path, watching closely as she drew two long daggers from beneath her cloak and parried the first attacker. Only then they finally recognized the mysterious figure was in fact a woman not a man - and with really nice skill in fighting with blades, as it seemed.  

"No way..." Arthur heard Back Lack whisper beside him and nudged him with his elbow, not looking away from the girl for a second. She was good, really good. But three big men, attacking almost at once, was too much even for her.  

She managed to slit ones thigh, sending him to his knees and throwing a hard blow to his temple with the hilt right after, knocking him out cold, but the other man kicked her in the side at the exact same moment, sending (y/n) straight on the wall. The impact knocked all air from her lungs, but she was quick enough to duck from the blade coming on her head. She spun around, cut under his knee and parried an attack from the third man with the other blade. But when he swung very similar kick to her legs, she jumped away and tripped, falling on her back. He laughed openly at her, closing the distance, and (y/n) knew she was close to losing. But then - just as she scrambled to stand - three more figures jumped from the roof beside her and she was too shocked to move, still half sitting, when they knocked the two attackers to the ground in not even half a minute. Only then she recognized the face of their leader and almost tripped again. 

Fortunately, managing to finally find her common sense, (y/n) slowly stood to her full height, not bothering to pull her hood back up and daggers still in hands. She was fairly sure they meant no harm to her - they were quickly becoming the leading gang in Londinium and she also heard that they fiercely protected girls from one specific brothel - but, still, she felt more confident with familiar weight in her hands. Yet, before she could muster any coherent sentence, the handsome blonde leader turned to her with a smile - a little cocky, but not totally arrogant, actually more playful than anything. There was also a curious glint in his blue eyes.  

"Hi there, beautiful," he started lightly, stepping closer to her, but stopped in reasonable distance. Crossing arms over his chest, he pointed at her daggers. "Nice blades you have there." 

"Thanks," she said a little warily, throwing a look to the other two boys, who watched her with slight smiles, light and rather friendly, definitely not smug. So she forced herself to relax a bit. "And thanks for interrupting," she added, again looking into sparkling eyes of their leader.  

"No problem, beautiful, couldn't help myself, if I'm being honest. But, I must say, you were handling them pretty well" he admitted, assessing the damage she had done to the two man laying closest to her, amused smile still on his lips.  

"Not well enough," she muttered under her breath, crunching her nose a little.   

"You don't fight them very often, don't you?" one of the others asked, the one with dark skin and a little bigger smile.  

She shook her head, finally hiding the blades to theirs sheaths on her belt.  

"Bad luck, huh?" the second one added, knowing glint in his eyes. It made her wary again, so she didn't took her hands of the blades for now. 

"You could say that..." 

"Forgive them, darling," the blond started again with amused voice. "I saw you on the market, it would be a nice job, if not for your bad luck today. And I think I saw you before too, nice skills you have there." 

"Well, not that nice, if you saw me that many times," she said with a small sigh, trying to hide the little amused quirk in the corner of her lips. 

"Only because I knew what you were doing, darling." He winked at her with that smug look and (y/n) had to force herself not to roll her eyes. 

"Could you please not call me that? I'm not your darling," she interfered, before he could add anything else, starting to be a little annoyed with his nicknames. (Y/n)had secretly admired this man for quite some time, his work and handsome face, but, still, it was frustrating. 

Surprise crossed his face, but then it lit up in the biggest smile she ever saw on him. And there was a new sparkle in his eyes, one that sent unexpected shiver down her spine and new color to her cheeks.  

"Then how I should call you, beautiful?" She could swore he added it on purpose, because when she squinted her eyes a little, a spark ignited in his blue ones.  

"(Y/n) will suffice," she said with small amount of sarcasm in her tone that visibly amused all three of them.  

"Well, nice to finally meet you, (y/n)," he said, throwing a mocking bow at the end, amused smile now on both their lips. "I'm Arthur and these are my mates, Back Lack and Wet Stick."  

He motioned to the others, who nodded to her with smiles, to which she responded with a nod herself. And exactly at that moment one of the guards started to stir. 

"Look, lads, someone’s waking up," mused Arthur, but before the guard could do or say anything, he casted a strong kick to his head, knocking him cold again. Brushing few lose strand off of his face, he looked back up at (y/n). 

"So, as I was saying, you have some nice skills there," he repeated, smirk tugging at his framed by slight stubble lips. "You interested in joining our little gang?"  

One of his brows arched up, but there was a glint in his eyes, a knowing look, and she felt her own lips curling up. They both knew the answer. It really couldn't be any other way, could it? 

"If you insist," she mused, crossing arms over her chest. "Then yes, I am, Arthur, gladly," she said with a smile, a little mischievous glint prominent in her eyes.  

Arthur chuckled, slightly shaking his head, as Wet Stick and Back Lack laughed quietly behind him. She was really something else and he took a liking to her from the very start - his boys too, as it seemed. He looked at them briefly and upon receiving small nods from both, he returned to her with his own sparkling in curiosity and amusement eyes.  

"Then welcome in our ranks, (y/n)." He spread his arms a little and with a wink added, "You won't regret it." 

"We'll see about that," was her only answer, but when he took in the mischievous look in her eyes, the blush on her cheeks and curled up in a smile lips, he knew she would fit with them perfectly.  

And when they made their way back, the boys happily joining the conversation and laughing along them, some unknown feeling clutched at his chest. Yes, she would definitely fit with them. With him - certainly. He had no doubts, not when he caught her eyes and saw that sparkle in them. 

 Yes, she was going to fit in perfectly. It was no doubt. None at all.  

**Author's Note:**

> This work is also on my [tumblr](http://raksh-thedemonlady.tumblr.com/) \- find me there, if it's your thing.


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